Taipei deputy mayor Ting owns four houses in China

WALLS AND WHEELS:：Timothy Ting also owns four plots of land in Taipei, several buildings and a BMW automobile that he bought for NT$2.73 million

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
and Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporters

Wed, Dec 26, 2012 - Page 3

Taipei Deputy Mayor Timothy Ting (丁庭宇) owns four houses in China, according to the latest Control Yuan report on property declarations by local government department chiefs.

Ting owns three houses in Shanghai and one in Beijing, the Control Yuan report showed yesterday, but it did not provide details on their estimated value. He also has 253,279 yuan (US$40,630) in two bank accounts in China.

Ting, 58, reported his assets on Oct. 31 last year, when he was appointed to the position by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) after Hau’s original choice, former Taipei City Secretariat Office director Yang Hsi-an (楊錫安), declined to take up the post because of the controversy surrounding his alleged links to the Xinsheng Overpass construction scandal.

Ting has also worked as a political commentator and once served as an adviser to Gallup Market Research Corp in Taiwan.

According to the Control Yuan, Ting also has NT$14.5 million (US$497,800) in bank deposits, debt of NT$21.5 million, four plots of land in Taipei, several buildings and a BMW car he bought for NT$2.73 million.

It is not law illegal for officials to own property in China.

However, former National Palace Museum director Chou Kung-shin (周功鑫) came under strong criticism after it was revealed in a Control Yuan property-declaration report in February 2009 that she and her husband own one residential and one office unit in Shanghai, with a combined value of US$880,000.

Ting said the law does not bar government officials from owning real estate in China, adding that he and his wife own properties in different countries for investment purposes and that all the properties were acquired legally.